First Battle of Lyrasia
The Battle of Lyrasia lasted from 25 to 28 of Sun's Dawn, 138 BTW. On 28 of Sun's Dawn, the invading army of Tiberius abandoned the siege because of casualties sustained during an engagement with his brother, Jasyn, and retreated north. The Battle was the only major engagement during the Dalunian Civil War, since both brothers who aspired for the throne's armies were defeated which forced them to flee and found their own nations. Background In 140 BTW, when Osold I turned 70 years of age, he became ill with an unknown disease. At that time, he had had two queens and between them four children; Jasyn, Osold II, Tiberius, and Yolanda. It was however never established how the line of secession would be executed. Many across the Kingdom called for elections, others, especially within the King's inner circle, said the firstborn was to become King or Queen. Osold I, however, had by this time become too ill to even speak properly, let alone make decisions. The King's Loyal, Mojol Dyal, was then appointed ruler temporarily while the Council of Yarls decide who the next monarch would be. Tiberius, who at the time was 30, demanded the throne, saying because of his military history as a renown general, he should become King. At the time of the announcement that the Council of Yarls will deliberate, Tiberius was engaged in a campaign against the Empire of Zeelador, in the Northernmost part of Dalun. Immediately after, Tiberius and his entire army left the battlefield and headed South to Lyrasia, to attempt a siege on the city, in the hopes that it will intimidate the Council of Yarls. This was effectively seen as the day the children of Osold I formed their own Houses. Tiberius formed House Tiber. Jasyn, who was equally desperate for the throne, took his army from Erygis to meet his brother half way. Jasyn, after hearing of the formation of House Tiber and his brother "leaving" the family, formed House Stannister. Some say this was to be a show of heroics, so the Council of Yarls will choose Jasyn as ruler. The Council of Yarls, however, attempted to talk Jasyn out of his campaign, to no avail. Battle Westhill was a town located in a largely hilly area fifty miles north of Lyrasia. The City Watch had promptly evacuated the town and retreated to the city when reports of two nearing armies, one from the north and south respectively had been issued. The army of Jasyn and House Stannister arrived first and, knowing well that they were outnumbered, put their archers to good use. The archers were deployed to two hills which formed a bottleneck outside the city. Said hills were unimpeachable from the direction Tiberius and his army were arriving, which gave the archers freedom and safety while bombarding the army of House Tiber. No more than 45 minutes after Jasyn's arrival, Tiberius' 1,000 man strong cavalry rode directly into the trap when attempting to ride through the bottleneck to Westhill. The archers engaged and almost killed Tiberius himself. 300 horsemen were slain with no casualties in Jasyn's army. The cavalry retreated to their approaching army, and Tiberius ordered two groups of 800 foot soldiers to leave the army and flank the archers on the hills during the night. The proper portion of Tiberius' army was halted and the groups dispatched. The youngest, most agile troopers were chosen so that they could move relatively light and stealthily. This won a huge initial victory for Tiberius, after hundreds of Jasyn's trained archers were slain, however, Jasyn's cavalry all but annihilated the 1,600 of Tiberius' youngest troopers as they tried returning to their army. Jasyn then staged a situation where it seemed as if he had retreated, and Tiberius once again rode into his brother's trap. The remainder of Jasyn's archers slaughtered thousands of troops within the confines of the town of Westhill while troops ensured they cannot move out of the archers' range. What remained of Jasyn's cavalry started harassing the portions of Tiberius' army which had not entered the town, however, Tiberius' archers basically killed the entire cavalry after two hours. After thousands of Tiberius' men were killed within Westhill, Jasyn ordered his army to reassemble for a direct charge for the remnant of Tiberius' army. This was a fatal mistake which led to Jasyn's defeat, as he was still extremely outnumbered while Tiberius' footmen, who were known to be superior in combat, easily cut through the southerners who were rather known for their archery and sneakiness. Jasyn and what remained of his army, roughly 3,000 men, retreated back south. Tiberius did not follow, as he had his sights set on Lyrasia, as was originally the plan. As Tiberius' 7,000 strong army approached, he noted the smaller Lyrasia City Watch's advantage: the majority of watchmen were archers, and were stationed on the high walls of the city. The very small group of Kingsguard along with the footmen watchmen were gathered in front of the city formed into a shoulder-to-shoulder line, primarily pikemen. Tiberius knew he would be able to take the city, but at a huge loss of life. He had no guarantees that the loyalist eastern provinces would not assemble an army and retake the city, thus, with the agreeance of his advisers, he called off the attack and returned north with his still large army, and defeated the Empire of Zeelador within days. Aftermath For five months after this battle, the north and west engaged in war over the throne, however, for the entirety of the Civil War, the Battle of Lyrasia remained the largest. The City Watch was immediately grown to over 3,000 and a reservist system was established, where able citizens of the city can be called to arms in the event of a City Watch defeat. Forts were established for miles around the city as defensive positions. The war was never won, as the north eventually stopped attacking and started expanding their newly founded kingdom. Jasyn was never heard from again, however, his House Stannister became prominent among southern villages, and although there was no succession in the south; the region became politically unstable. Honors and rewards *Lord Osold II, who planned the defense of the city was eventually named King of Dalun by the Council of Yarls. *Lady Yolanda, sister of Osold II, was named "Heart of Dalun" for her efforts to calm the population and help inhabitants of Westhill stay in Lyrasia while the battle went on. *Lord Mojol Dyal, who was the acting ruler of Dalun, after being relieved, was knighted and given one of the forts defending Lyrasia. *Ser Armo Hallit, a farmer from near Westhill, who gathered his slaves and friends to fight should Tiberius' army break through, was knighted. See also *Kingdom of Dalun category:Ugius